As we swelter in unseasonable heat, what better prospect than a summer spent watching rainy British costume dramas? ARTE has a great season lined up called “English Passions” with lots of Jane Austen, Jane Eyre and the reboot of the series that inspired Downton Abbey. Settle back with a cup of tea and enjoy! You … Continue reading “A Summer of Romanticism and Costume Drama on ARTE”
France’s biggest crime-fiction festival is back at its usual time of year, 1-3 April, after a Covid-delayed edition in July 2021. For its 18th edition it has a large roll-call of writers from France and around the world, including many from the U.K. and the U.S. Alongside stars like Harlan Coben, John Grisham and Paula … Continue reading “Lyon: Crime (Fiction) Capital”
Colin in Black and White is a new Netflix mini-series directed by Ava Duvernay. It’s ostensibly the story of Kaepernick’s high- school years, before he became an NFL Star and started his “take a knee” protests. In fact it’s a sort of manifesto with the older Kaepernick using his younger self to illustrate how he … Continue reading “Colin Kaepernick: Birth of an Activist”
How have women been portrayed in U.S. TV series in the past, and how has that been changing since #MeToo? That’s the topic of an online talk from the Institut Franco-Américain in Rennes on 23 March. Anaïs Le Fèvre-Berthelot from Rennes 2 University will take a look back at some significant female characters in the … Continue reading “A History of Women in U.S. TV Series”
The Visionary Honours is a new kind of awards ceremony: one that singles out art, media and entertainment that fosters social change and debate. The awards were created in 2019 by the Visionary Arts Foundation, which helps 16-29-year-olds get a foothold in the creative industries in the UK, encouraging them in their ambition to influence … Continue reading “Positive Vision”
A quick roundup of the latest collège lessons in English on France 4. Follow the link below for the subjects of the previous programmes. There are now so many we decided to start a new list. You can find the detailed schedule here. 18 May 4e School in the U.K. … Continue reading “The Latest Classes on TV for Your Collège Students”
The Lumni classes on TV for lycée are continuing — here’s a round-up of the latest programmes. The English classes are on France 4 every Wednesday. Several of the recent programmes have focused on debating and speech making , both as cultural traditions and practical activities to help students improve their own oralexpression. The 20 … Continue reading “The Latest Lumni Classes on TV for Lycée”
As we have said many times, teachers are finding amazing creative ways to keep providing their pupils with motivating, and feasible, work to do during lockdown. This sequence found on the Académie de Grenoble’s English site can be done entirely in distance learning. It mixes culture and language in a class for 6e about daily … Continue reading “Daily Routine with Rockwell”
The lycée lessons in English on France 4 which started on 25 March have been such a success that there are now programmes every week for the different collège levels. The collège-level lessons are 30 minutes long. You can find the detailed schedule here. The subjects for the first two lessons for 6e-5e are … Continue reading “Classes on TV for your Collège Students”
The Education Ministry has commissioned a series of filmed lessons for pupils, to be shown on France 4. There are classes in English for lycée level, every Wednesday, starting on 25 March. The first lesson is on written comprehension, for 1ère and Terminale, around a letter to Judy Garland, an extract from Love Letters to … Continue reading “Classes on TV for your lycée students”
